Posted by The other Scott on March 07, 2001 at 20:16:12:
In Reply to: what are conductors thinking? posted by in disbelief.... on March 06, 2001 at 20:20:40:
One in which I wasn't playing: Conductor started part of Beethoven's 9th, cut them off, and told them "Watch me this time," then started again. This was during a performance. In his defense, the orchestra had blown the piece, and it would have died ignominiously had he not done that.
One for a band in which I sometimes play: It was the fourth week of the band season, and it was the first day we had all three regular tuba players. (One of the regulars could only play a half season. We had probably six substitutes over the ten weeks.) The conductor, who doesn't like tubas much in general, could not get the dynamic down where he wanted it. He turned to the band manager and yelled, "Never hire these people again! They are too goddam loud. You need to pick some better substitutes." He apparently had no idea who the full-time people were. You could hear a pin drop after that. He never apologized, and about 15 people quit at the end of the season.